Barcelona have stepped up their efforts to offload Philippe Coutinho by slashing their asking price to €70m, with the hope that the Brazilian will be sold before the start of July.
Coutinho has shown flashes of brilliance during his loan spell with Bayern Munich in 2019/20, but his performances haven't done enough to convince the German giants to part ways with around £110m in order to make the move permanent.
Barcelona's financial struggles have also been well-documented, with it being reported for some time that they are very much open to selling the 28-year-old. SPORT now report that Barça have lowered their asking price for the midfielder to around €70m as they look to entice an interested party into making a move before July. This comes as they look to raise funds to balance the books before the end of the financial year.
There has been plenty of confusion as to how much the Catalan giants were actually realistically looking to sell him for, especially considering the current climate. It was reported back in April that Barça had finally settled on a €90m asking price, but this figure has now been reduced.
The report states that Coutinho remains the great 'hot potato' at Barcelona as they look to try and move him on, and although there is interest from Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea, it appears as though the Premier League trio are 'prioritising' a loan move.
Barça are also said to be willing to listen to the idea of a swap deal, as long as the final deal amounts to around €90m. Additionally, an interested party could make a loan offer with an obligation to buy - but SPORT state that no club is currently willing to tie themselves down to such a deal. However, whatever the case, there is interest, and a move back to England cannot be 'ruled out'.
Coutinho's agent Kia Joorabchian could travel to Barcelona this week in order to lay out his client's options to the club and to formally discuss the next steps. Joorabchian was said to have recently offered Coutinho's services to Everton on a one-year loan, with it even noted that Barça are willing to pay 30% of his wages to make the move happen.
Source : 90min